The construction of a 7.5 MWp solar photovoltaic power plant in the governorate of Suez has been approved by the Egyptian Electricity Utilities Regulatory and Consumer Protection Agency (EgyptERA).
The approval request was submitted by SolarizEgypt, a company that specializes in the financing, designing, installing, and commissioning of PV solar power plants in the Middle East region, following an agreement signed more than a year ago with Arabian Cement Company, which supplies almost 6% of Egypt’s cement, to develop the plant.
SolarizEgypt, acting as an Independent Power Producer (IPP), will put up the solar power plant which includes a self-consumption system on an area of approximately 96,000 m² and sell the electricity produced to the Arabian Cement Company for a period of 25 years under BOOT (Build Own Operate Transfer) system.
Cost of the project
The construction of a solar PV plant in Suez will cost approximately US$ 6.3M, and the financing will be provided by QNB ALAHLI, one of the leading financial institutions and second-largest private bank in Egypt through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD), a multilateral developmental investment bank under its Green Economy Transition (GET) approach, whose objective is to increase the financing of projects that advance the transition to an environmentally sustainable, low-carbon economy, and help prevent economies from being locked into a carbon-intensive, polluting pathway that depletes natural assets.
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The Arabian Cement Company estimates that the 7.5 MWp supplied by construction of a solar PV plant in Suez represents 4% of the electricity consumed by its facilities and this would reduce their expenditure on electricity. The company also says that the project will as well reduce the environmental impact of its facilities.
Furthermore, Arabian Cement Company sees the initiative as part of the Egyptian government’s strategy to achieve 20% of the country’s electricity supply from renewable sources by the end of this year.
